Marquette Startups

Marquette Energy Analytics (MEA)

This project started when utility officials expressed frustration to Dr. Ronald Brown that they didn't have a means to predict how much natural gas customers would use on a given day. What started as the GasDay energy demand research lab at Marquette University has grown into the more agile and scalable Marquette Energy Analytics. GasDay was recently spun out as Marquette Energy Analytics (MEA) and has been serving U.S. utilities for more than 25 years.

MEA specializes in energy demand modeling, forecasting and analytics. MEA software modeling products are extremely valuable to utility companies because reliable estimates of natural gas use avoid excess supply or shortages of natural gas distribution. Pipelines only have a certain gas capacity, and pipeline operators impose significant penalties if utility companies consume more gas than allocated. MEA products use weather data, historical climate trends and past load demand data to generate highly accurate predictions of natural gas use that is saving local and national gas utilities time, money and effort; the savings in turn are passed on to customers.

This technology transfer activity continues to support not only research, publication and education, but also multidisciplinary and hands-on training opportunities for students that is translatable for future employment.

 

Promentis Pharmaceuticals Inc.

In research spanning a decade, Dr. David Baker (Marquette) and Dr. James Cook (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and colleagues studied neurotransmitters in the brain and how modulation of these neurotransmitters through optimized delivery of active chemical compounds to the brain can be used to better understand and treat various psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and other central nervous system (CNS) conditions.

Founded by Baker and Dr. John Mantsch in 2007, and led by Daniel Lawton, Dr. Klaus Veitinger, Steve Pollock (former executives of Schwarz Pharma) and Dr. Chad Beyer, Promentis Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, is developing innovative therapies for neuropsychiatric disorders. The company licensed intellectual property from Marquette and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation. The company’s first indication is trichotillomania, a highly prevalent disorder for which there is no approved therapy. Alterations in glutamate signaling within brain regions implicated in urge control and executive function have been proposed to contribute to the underlying pathology of trichotillomania, as well as other obsessive-compulsive and addictive disorders, and other CNS conditions.

 

AviMed Pharmaceuticals LLC

AviMed was founded in 2009 by Dr. Behnam Ghasemzadeh and Dr. Daniel Sem. AviMed has a first-in-class schizophrenia drug lead and a proprietary drug discovery and optimization technology for repurposing this and subsequent central nervous system (CNS) drugs. AviMed licensed patents from Marquette University and from a biotech company related to drug optimization technology. Ghasemzadeh and his research team were investigating a novel brain mechanism related to the cognitive and social problems relevant to schizophrenia. AV115 was discovered by another pharmaceutical company for the treatment of a different disease. When it was found ineffective for that disease, the company decided to no longer pursue it. Since AV115 has already been researched for clinical data and safety by the company, it is considered an “Advanced Preclinical Candidate." AviMed Pharmaceuticals now is repurposing this drug. AV115 has shown fewer side effects and would treat symptoms that current medication for schizophrenia fails to target.